Home DIY

Idk if you are too east for this guy, but you can try.

Yash +44 7932 064095

He was solid with us - serviced a boiler to keep it running for another year, fair price on replacing it a year later.

Is it aok to post a tel no on a form?

osculating

If you're looking to buy one, it may be useful to know the word is "oscillating".

The osculum (plural "oscula") is an excretory structure in the living sponge

Sponges are totally a DIY thing, I think you'll find. He is obviously referring to sponging down the new grout.

I've used this guy and he was decent
https://rokas.london/

Enfield based so might depend how fast East you are

James Desmond, Fixheat UK
07983 332556

Thanks for recommendations all, im sure one of the three will sort it!

I've had similar with long extension cables but that was plugged in overnight charging some big lead acid batteries with multiple extension cords chained together. The bit that melted was by the bed :s (narrowboat so limited space or options for routing cables in an emergency).

Hopefully it's the extension lead at fault as that's much easier to replace!

If your mate has time then you could ask them to spur off (or even better if they can extend the ring) to have another socket closer to the machine so you aren't reliant on extensions.
This is pretty straightforward to DIY if you have the inclincation.

i did this for my roof terrace. I got a bolster chisel and a club hammer and chipped out all the failing grout by hand. It took several hours over the course of a week, in the morning, before the sun hit it. In places it was so bad that I could scrape the old grout out without needing the hammer. A stiff brush also worked sometimes. Then I mixed small batches of concrete in a 3:1 ratio, and regrouted the gaps. Again, over a few days, and in the morning. Then we painted it with roof paint.

I didn't go the power tool route because a) it's a badly built roof terrace - after the tiles is the waterproof membrane, and I didn't want to damage that, and, b) one slip and i'd have damaged the tiles, and I didn't want to have to replace them.

Consider using a jetwash to lift the grout and the mastic as well. Jetwashing the terrace was when we noticed all the grout coming out from between the roof tiles. Again, I didn't want to stress the waterproof membrane so i didn't go this route.

Drop me a line if you want to discuss further.

You need to be really careful jet washing anything masonry / ceramic !!!

ah that's annoying - sorry for the poor recommendation! Never used fruugo but would this solve your problem? https://www.fruugo.co.uk/aux-35mm-male-to-30-pin-female-music-cable-lead-for-ipod-for-iphone-dock-adapter-cable/p-175545289-375169919?language=en&ac=croud&asc=pmax&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIl5--oPuOggMVjOztCh2WJwI8EAQYAyABEgLMwfD_BwE

there's these too: https://geargeek.co.uk/Apple-Lightning-to-30-Pin-Adaptor?sku=30_PIN_TO_8_PIN/MBL-31055&utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=cse&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIl5--oPuOggMVjOztCh2WJwI8EAQYBCABEgJBCvD_BwE

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/145069150199?chn=ps&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&amdata=enc%3A1FJUeoq0wQACtEk6empReTw11&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-134428-41853-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=145069150199&targetid=1647205088800&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=1006841&poi=&campaignid=17206177401&mkgroupid=136851690655&rlsatarget=pla-1647205088800&abcId=9300866&merchantid=672004663&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIl5--oPuOggMVjOztCh2WJwI8EAQYASABEgL65fD_BwE

Ugh, think I need to replace all the downlight fittings in our bathroom. They date back to Halogen; 12v.

What would the forum recommend for least faff?

Thanks.

Given the issue is water leaking in below the terrace I won't be adding more water. But appreciate the tips.

Some fittings you can change the lamp to an LED GU10 type, remove the transformer and wire a GU10 lampholder directly. It does depend on the design of the fitting though.

Otherwise GU10 LED fittings and lamps or integrated mains type are good value.

Hmmm I have a bunch of 12v GU5.3 LED bulbs.

Worth pulling them all down and replacing the transformers to LED drivers?

£10 a pop it looks like.

Edit, maybe not - these seem much better value.

If you have the lamps then it might be worthwhile. Otherwise GU10 or integrated is the way to go.

You also need to consider dimmability! Maybe new dimmers required.

No dimmers. Pretty basic setup. 6 spots and a standard on/off switch.

I hate how this stuff feels like a minefield. It's lights FFS.

Why do people like integrated? Seems silly to have to pull the entire fitting if the bulb goes (which it will -despite what they say about fifteen zillion year lifespans, the bulb will go before you are ready to replace it).

I've not seen any failures with integrated. A lot of people used to buy a spare and store it in case but I ended up with a few on the shelf and never any call to use them. They also cost less than the GU10+frame equivalent, especially if you need higher IP ratings or fire resistance.

Having said that the first integrated I installed were maybe 6/7 years ago so not an entire expected lifespan.

You would probably find something so similar in the future to replace a failed one, why worry?

Yes, we found out the hard way. The ease that the grout just shot out from between the tiles was our first indication that we had problems.

The, ahem, "local" fix, is to get glass fibre matting, and set that down with the really heavy duty roof paint which also contains fibre strands. You can buy all this at Leroy Merlin, or other appropriate store. This might do as a quick and dirty fix, but can get very expensive if you do the whole area.

Likewise, the heavy duty roof paint, guaranteed waterproof (if it's 1mm thick), is a quick and easy fix, but also pricey for the whole terrace. Worth looking into. And you'd still have to clean the terrace floor, which may start pulling up the old grout - sorry, just thinking aloud now.

In my experience the problem with cheaper transformers/drivers is that they can fail prematurely.

I would always go mains for that reason if possible, so I'd go GU10 personally.

As Fox says, cheaper =/= better value. I’d switch out to GU10 tails just for longevity.

Yeah thanks. I think I'll just regeout to start as that'll go along way to making it look nice too which isn't bad.
If that doesn't work I'll lay some WP membrane and then put timber decking onto. Which would be nice anyway.

That just means there's a mini transformer in each lamp though of unknown quality